The End of All Battles Remastered
by ToBeSomebody
Summary: Ash and his friends are reunited for the first time in years, and not a moment too soon. The four evil teams of the world are hatching a plan that will bring the very world to its knees. Will their combined courage be enough to save the world this time?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello again everyone. =) It's been nearly a year since I've done anything with this story here, though I have been working on it diligently and I believe it's in a place where it's ready to be shared again; the right way this time.

For those of you who followed the original story and have come back to read again, welcome back! Don't expect to see too much of a change in the main storyline, though you will notice plenty of changes in the grammatical errors and in Mason's overall personality, as well as a few extra scenes I felt were necessary.

For those of you who are reading this for the first time, welcome, and thanks for taking the time to check it out. I'm writing this story as a personal challenge I've imposed upon myself, and I hope that everyone else can enjoy it as well.

Without further adieu:

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><p>The world of pokemon. A fascinating world inhabited by humans and creatures, working together since the dawn of time. These creatures named pokemon aid us in our everyday lives, with everything from recreation and fun to battling and serious contests. In this world are many legends, and many mysteries waiting to be revealed. Great powers lie dormant in every corner of the world, silently keeping watch over the ecosystem and balance of the entire planet. There are some, however, who seek to use this power to accomplish their own means. Different people under different names, working to disrupt the natural balance and gain control over powers that mankind can never understand. In the past these organizations have battled each other for control over different regions of the world. However, a terrible plot is being hatched, one that can bring the entire planet to its knees.<p>

* * *

><p>A lone man sat in a large, empty room. Beside him lay his persian, calm and collected as always. With the touch of a button, a large screen lowered from the ceiling and flickered to life. Archie, the leader of Team Aqua; Maxie, the leader of team Magma; and Cyrus, the leader of team Galactic appeared in opposite corners.<p>

"It's nice to finally have a chance to talk to you all again," the man said.

"What's this all about, Giovanni? And why is **he **here?" Archie grunted, gesturing to Maxie.

"I was just about to ask the same-"

"Enough of your petty squabbling," Maxie was interrupted by Giovanni before he could finish. "Let us put our differences aside for a moment and discuss the future, shall we? Although our past encounters haven't been so pretty, we all have one thing in common. Each of us sees pokemon for what they really are and what they are truly capable of. Now, I've just stumbled upon something very…interesting. Regrettably, my plan cannot be completed by Team Rocket alone. For the time being, working together may be the most mutually beneficial thing any of us have ever done. I promise you, gentlemen, that once this discovery is realized, the entire world will be sitting in the palms of our hands." Giovanni let out a deep chuckle.

"…What is it we need to do?" Cyrus was genuinely intrigued. To this question, Giovanni simply smiled, and then revealed his horrible scheme.

* * *

><p>In a small town, nestled quietly away from the noise and excitement of the city, an alarm went off. Unfortunately for Ash Ketchum, it wasn't quite enough to wake him from his slumber. Another half hour went by before Pikachu finally decided to take matters into his own hands and give his friend a thundershock.<p>

"**Wah**!-I'm up!" Ash sat straight up, taking a moment to let the voltage finish coursing through his body. As he regained his senses, he glanced at the clock. "Huh…oh no! I'm late! Mom's gonna kill me! Come on, Pikachu!" Ash quickly threw on his clothes and rushed out the door with Pikachu tailing closely behind him.

On his way to Professor Oak's lab, he ran into none other than Professor Oak himself. "Ah! Ash! I was just looking for you! You've kept everyone waiting!" The professor quickly slapped his mouth shut when he realized he had just given everything away.

"What do you mean everyone's waiting? I thought I was supposed to be helping my mom out cleaning the lab up today?" Ash asked, still running in place.

"Uh-eh-well you see I-Er your pokemon of course! They'll be helping you both out with the chores today!" Oak crossed his fingers, hoping his white lie was successful.

"Oh, of course! I'll be there soon!" Ash took off again with the professor and Pikachu tailing behind him now. It was a small town, but Professor Oak's lab was all the way on the outskirts with land surrounding it, plenty of room for all of Ash's pokemon to roam. Ash only hoped he wouldn't get a pep talk from his mom about timeliness, blissfully unaware of what was waiting for him.

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><p>On the other side of town, a passing stranger was having a little bit of trouble with one of his pokemon.<p>

"Come on Poof! Give 'em back!" A boy cried toward his haunter. He and his ninetails were chasing him down, but as was usual for haunters, he was quite the escape artist, and also happened to have the boy's shoes, making it no easier to chase him. The boy pulled out a pokeball and attempted to recall the unruly haunter, but it simply vanished. It re-appears behind the boy, pulling on the boy's cheeks causing him to make funny faces.

"Blaagghalagg-Knock it off! Get back here!" The boy cried out as the haunter floated away laughing. The boy and his ninetails continued to give chase throughout the town, running in and out of shops, apologizing as they went. Inches away from victory, the boy was led right off of a dock into a pond. The ninetails screeched to a halt at the end of the dock, a smug look on its face. The boy surfaced and looked around, noticing his ninetails. "Oh shush. It's cool and refreshing anyway!" He splashed a little water towards the dock that the ninetails dodged easily.

He swam back to the dock and climbed out of the water, shaking his hair as dry as he could. The haunter appeared again, crying tears of laughter.

"Oh haha, very funny." The haunter simply smiled and vanished, appearing again in front of the boy with his shoes.

"Thank you!" The boy swiped them and dropped to the ground, reaching down to pull them over his wet feet. Unfortunately, the haunter couldn't help but seize such a perfect opportunity. He silently crept over to where the boy's pack was, hooked a hand through the loop, and vanished once more.

"Noone…did he just…" The boy asked, not bothering to look up or stop tying his shoes. The ninetails simply let out a sigh and looked down. "Well…no use in sitting around. Come on. We'll take it easy this time, okay?" The boy stood up and spread his arms out, and the ninetails promptly let out an ember attack. Although it was quite hot, it quickly dried the boy off. They then set off, walking back into town after the boy's pack.

* * *

><p>Back at Professor Oak's lab, Ash, Pikachu, and the Professor himself were just arriving. They paused at the door to catch their breath before walking in. The room was dark, with all of the windows covered and the lights out.<p>

"Huh. That's odd…" Ash fumbled for a second and found the switch.

"**Surprise**!" A deafening yell came from the room. Ash jumped back, shocked by what he saw and the loud welcoming. There in the lab were Misty, May, Dawn, Tracey and Brock, almost all of his closest friends. "Happy Birthday Ash!"

"Wuh…Oh! It's my birthday today!" Everybody groaned before letting out a chuckle. "Wow! Thanks guys! How'd you all know?" Ash stood in the doorway, astonished to see everyone right there in front of him.

"Your mom called us, and even arranged the ferry schedules for us to come over!" May said, smiling at Delia. "And of course I'd never miss something like this! Not in a million years!"

"Of course not! Besides, I always wanted to see what Kanto was like anyway!" Dawn exclaimed. "You live in such a beautiful town! And your mom's such a nice woman!"

"Oh Ash, it's just like you to forget something like this," Delia said, "always thinking about your pokemon and your journeys." She came forward and gave her son a hug. "I hope you like your present!"

"Eh-Of course, mom, but you don't have to choke me-" Ash weezed as his mom's grip tightened. Delia eased up and tipped Ash's hat.

"No matter how old you get, you'll still always be my little pokemon master."

"Thanks, mom. And thanks everyone for being here! It's awesome to see everyone again, it's been too long! Let's eat some cake and-Hey, where's Max?"

"Oh he's still back at the gym," May said, "He really wanted to come, but he's taking his responsibilities there pretty seriously and couldn't afford to take any time off. He said he'd call you later when he got the chance."

"Aw, that's too bad. But it'll still be great to hear from him. Alright everyone, let's have a party!" With that, they ran outside to the cake and began slicing it up, chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey guys, why keep all the fun to ourselves? Why not let our pokemon in on the action?" Brock suggested, holding up a pokeball.

"Great idea!" Dawn said, reaching for her pokeballs. "Come on out, everyone! Let's have some fun!" Everybody threw their pokeballs into the air and suddenly they were surrounded by pokemon. Brock served up some of his famous pokemon food while everyone else cut into the huge cake. Buneary was all too excited to see Pikachu and wasn't afraid to show it, grabbing him by the hands and twirling him around.

"So Ash, how's it feel to be 15?" Misty asked, leaning on the table next to him. "You're not that little kid I fished out of the river all those years ago, you're almost all grown up!" She gave him a smile.

"It honestly doesn't feel too different.," Ash said, looking up at the clouds while he ate, "And I'm not the only one who's growing up, you're just as old as I am you know, and you're not so little anymore either."

As most girls would, Misty took this to mean something much worse than what it actually was, and retaliated in her normal way. "**I am not fat, Ash Ketchum**!" She yelled, grabbing him by the collar, "**You take that back**!"

Everyone turned to see Misty holding Ash in the normal headlock, her fist dug into his head. "Those two are already back to their old antics," Brock said and chuckled, "Some things just never change, do they?" He turned to Tracey and they laughed while May and Dawn looked on in confusion.

"Is it always like that between them?" Dawn asked, still watching as Ash tried in vain to explain to Misty what he meant. "I thought they got along well…"

"Of course they do," Tracey answered, "This is just like any normal day for those two. It might not look like it, but they're really great friends." As if to prove Tracey right, Misty released Ash and the two of them burst into laughter.

All throughout the party, people and pokemon alike were laughing and enjoying seeing each other again. Even with all of her unwanted affection towards him, Pikachu was more than happy to see Buneary again after such a long time. Misty and Tracey got to meet Dawn for the first time and Ash got to feel a sense of adventure again, being this close to all of his friends after such a long time.

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><p><strong>AN:** And the journey begins again.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hello again guys! Let's jump right into it, shall we?

* * *

><p>Drawing ever closer to Professor Oak's lab, a very mischievous haunter carried his trainer's backpack in an attempt to hide it from him, but hadn't been able to shake the persistent boy yet. He spotted a lot of commotion atop a hill in the distance and began racing toward it, the boy and his ninetails following close behind.<p>

"Remind me again why I ever caught him?" The boy yelled to his ninetails as they attempted not to let the haunter out of their sight. It had happened before and it was more than a day before they found where he had hidden their stuff. The boy picked up speed when he noticed where the haunter was headed: straight toward a party of some sort.

"Poof, no! Don't you dare! We don't know anybody here and I **know** what you have in mind! Don't do it!" The haunter simply snickered, turning around and making a face at the boy while keeping pace. He turned back around and sped up, and the boy knew it was inevitable. He could only hope to arrive before his haunter caused too much damage.

Atop the hill, the cake had been eaten down to the last few pieces and everyone was enjoying a fun game of "Pin the tail on the tauros." So far, without cheating, May had been the closest, pinning it on one of the hind legs. The professor was off by a mile, pinning the tail right on the nose, which prompted quite a few puns about his profession. Bulbasaur had lifted the blindfolds off and Bayleef had caught him in the act, ensuing a fight between the two that was quickly broken up by Brock's chansey.

Up next was Misty, who donned on the blindfold as Delia spun her around. Everyone was looking on in anticipation, waiting for someone to hit the target dead-on. Almost immediately after her five spins, Misty jumped forward with the tail-pin in her hand and stuck it right into Ash's leg.

"**Ooooowwaahhh!**" Ash screamed, grabbing his leg in pain. "Why'd you do that!" He jumped up, hopping up and down on his uninjured leg. Brock's chansey was quick to respond, coming to Ash's aid with a bandage in hand.

"Ehh…I…didn't…" Misty said, taking the blindfold off and looking at her hands, "Someone grabbed my hand and pulled me, I swear!"

"But who? We were all sitting right here…" Brock asked, a perplexed look on his face. Professor Oak stepped forward, his hand raised, finger pointed and eyes closed in his usual "matter-of-fact" expression, seemingly ready to say something. Instead he started making faces at everyone.

"Lehhhhhhhgggggg," was the sound that came out of the professor's mouth, nothing coherent at all. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and he grabbed his mouth with both hands and looked around. He took his hands down and waited cautiously before talking again. "…It would seem…as though we have a visitor…"

Everyone began looking at each other, confused as to what the professor might mean. Before anybody else could say anything, May cried out in terror. When they turned to look, everyone saw that she was floating ten feet off of the ground, wiggling in place.

"Get me down! Wah!" Suddenly a haunter appeared behind her wearing a backpack and snickering. It gave her a big hug before slowly lowering her down to the ground.

A boy appeared about twenty feet away and pulled out a pokeball. "Poof, return!" The haunter gave May a big smile before returning to the pokeball as his trainer commanded, letting the pack drop behind him. "Finally…" The boy took a moment to catch his breath. "I'm really, really sorry about him. He's a typical haunter, and we've been chasing him all day." The boy flopped down in the grass and began resting. "I really hope he didn't cause too much trouble, and I promise to pay for anything he broke."

Everyone looked at the boy for a second, speechless as to what just happened. May was still a little flustered by the ordeal, though she had a few choice words she would have wanted to share with the boy. Ash was the first to speak.

"Hey jerk! Your haunter stabbed me in the leg with a pin!" He was still sitting on the bench while Chansey patted his leg. "Just who do you think-Oh!" Ash stopped and gasped as he saw the ninetails come up and sit next to the boy. He realized the boy was a pokemon trainer and he might be able to get a battle in on his birthday.

The boy put a hand on the ninetails' head and looked up. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name's Mason, and this is Noone. The haunter you had the 'pleasure' of meeting earlier was Poof," the boy said, putting emphasis on the word "pleasure." "We were just passing through and I let my pokemon out to eat, and that's when he took my shoes. I managed to get them back, but he decided he wasn't done having fun for the day." He chuckled and looked toward May. "I've gotta thank you for being there, Poof seemed to like you," Mason said as he regarded May, "and I think I can see why."

May let out an uneasy chuckle, caught off-guard by what she believed to be a compliment, though she wasn't sure. "Oh…it's no problem," she managed a smile, "he was very gentle, and even gave me a hug, I think."

"Well that's good to hear, and thanks again. I'm really sorry to interrupt here, guys. It looks like you guys were having a fun time." He looked back the way he came. "Do you guys know if there's a pokemon center in town? I doubt we'll be able to make it back to where we were before the day's done."

"Hold on!" Ash yelled, "If you've got those pokemon, that must mean you're a trainer! Let's have a battle!" Ash stood up and his pokemon rallied behind him, happy and ready to fight.

"Ehh…I don't know, we've been running around all day, and Noone's not really a big fan of pokemon battles, let alone taking part in them." Noone nodded in agreement.

"Aw…How about just a quick one? It is my birthday after all!" Ash wasn't ready to let Mason go easily, he was ready for a battle. "Besides, it was your haunter that crashed the party."

"Well…" Mason was still pretty wary, but Noone gave him a nudge and looked at him eagerly. Mason gave a big grin, "Alright then, you're on!"

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><p><strong>((This scene is written in present tense purposefully))<strong>

The battle is a 3-on-3 battle, with the first to two victories being claimed the victor. For the first pokemon, Ash sends out Bayleef, while Mason sends out Seven, his igglybuff. A comical scene pans out as Mason orders a sing attack at the same time Ash orders a sleep powder attack and both pokemon fall asleep. However Bayleef quickly recovers and attacks with a razor leaf. Seven wakes up, but a moment too late as she's hit by the brunt of the attack. She recovers and charges forward with a double-slap attack. Bayleef takes a few hits, but is able to push Seven back and regain her ground. Ash then orders a vine-whip attack. The whips lash out at the small igglybuff, but Mason calls out for a counter-attack, sending the whips flying back at Bayleef with twice the force. Bayleef takes the attack and stands her ground, still raring to fight. Ash tells Bayleef to use a body slam attack while Mason orders the same thing. The two pokemon meet in the middle of the battlefield and collide head-on, but Bayleef overpowers Seven and sends her flying back, knocked out. Bayleef runs back to Ash with a tackle attack to show her affection and joy to be battling with him again. Mason consoles Seven before recalling her into her pokeball.

Next up for Ashe is Infernape, who takes the field confident and ready to fight again. Mason sends Poof back out, who makes a quick grab for Mason's backpack. Mason snatches it up and points toward the field, which Poof takes reluctantly. Infernape opens up with a flamethrower attack, which Mason orders Poof to counter with a night shade attack. The night shade bursts through the flamethrower and hits Infernape dead on. Infernape is quick to recover, however, and charges at Poof with a flame wheel. Mason tells Poof to use a psychic attack, stopping Infernape in his tracks and lifting him into the air. Poof follows up with a confusion attack that sends Infernape flying back to his side of the field. Infernape attempts to get closer to Poof by using agility and flare blitz, and pops up behind the haunter, taking him by surprise and knocking him forward a ways. Poof turns around with a shadow ball already formed and fires it off, much to Infernape's surprise. The attack lands and Infernape is knocked to the ground. He gets back up once more, only to be put back down by a hypnosis attack. To finish him off, Poof uses a dream eater attack and knocks Infernape out. Ash runs to his Infernape and helps it to its feet. It hangs its head and leaves the battlefield. Meanwhile, Mason and Poof are rejoicing over their win. Mason gives Poof a hug and Poof shows his affection with a lick attack, stunning Mason. Mason holds the pokeball up and recalls Poof.

Finally, Pikachu takes the battlefield followed by Noone. Pikachu opens with a quick attack, taking Noone by surprise when he switches sides at the last second. Noone seizes the up-close opportunity and charges up a flame wheel, slamming into Pikachu and forcing him back to his side of the battlefield. Pikachu takes the attack and responds immediately with a series of thunderbolts, each of which Noone dodges. Noone unleashes a flamethrower attack that engulfs nearly the entire field. Ash has Pikachu jump into the air to avoid the attack and has him come down with an iron tail attack. The attack lands and Noone is knocked to the ground. Much to Ash and Pikachu's surprise, Noone gets back to her feet, and Pikachu is suddenly rendered immobile by a disable attack. Pikachu is then lifted into the air by what seems to be either a confusion attack or a psychic attack. Immobile and stuck in the air, Pikachu is defenseless as Noone fires off a massive firespin attack, smashing Pikachu with a relentless wall of fire. When the attack ends, Pikachu falls to the ground knocked out. Ash runs and picks up his best friend, reassuring him that he did his best. Noone walks back to Mason and jumps up, hugging him as he hugs back. She gives him a kiss on the cheek as he ruffles the hair on her head. The match is over, Mason is the victor.

* * *

><p>After the battle, the group invited Mason to finish out the party with them. He let Seven and Poof out of their pokeballs - making sure to have Poof promise to behave - and joined the group at the tables with Noone accompanying him.<p>

"That was an amazing battle, Mason. I'm Ash, by the way. Ash Ketchum." Ash said as he shook Mason's hand.

"Yeah it was, it's been a long time since Noone and I have battled, and even longer since we had such a difficult fight. She can hit pretty hard, are you sure Pikachu's okay?" Mason asked, looking at Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's tough like me." Ash said with a chuckle, petting Pikachu's head. "So how was it that Noone was able to fight the way she did?" Ash asked, looking curiously at the ninetails as she rested her head on Mason's lap.

"I wish I could tell you," Mason answered, "ever since she evolved into a ninetails, Noone's done some things that have amazed and confounded me. I haven't really been able to explain it, but in the end it doesn't matter. I love her just the way she is, huh?" Noone lifted her head up and gave him a smile.

"That really is a wonderful looking ninetails you have there. When did you guys decide to evolve her?" Brock asked, remembering his time with Suzy's vulpix.

"We didn't. She just evolved." Mason answered, leaving everyone shocked. "Like I said, she's shown some pretty odd traits, and she didn't need a fire stone to evolve. I was just as surprised as you guys are now, believe me."

"Well either way, I know a good ninetails when I see one," Brock said, "and that's a wonderful companion you have there." Brock leaned over and gave Noone a pat on the head. Mason reached down and scratched her behind her ear, causing her to let out a small whimper in excitement. Pikachu's ears perked up and he jumped off of Ash's shoulder to investigate the noise, crawling up on Mason's lap and sniffing his hand.

"Hey, Pikachu! Don't be rude!" Ash called out after him.

"Don't worry, he's no bother," Mason said, reaching down to Pikachu and scratching him under his chin. Pikachu let out a high-pitched squeal in excitement, kicking his leg instinctively. Mason pulled his hand up higher and Pikachu followed, stretching his neck out.

"Woah…I've never seen him act like that," Ash said, looking on, amazed at how Mason was interacting with Pikachu. "Pikachu, what are you doing?" Ash asked. Pikachu turned back and gave Ash a look of ecstasy, obviously really enjoying himself. Mason gave Pikachu a rub on the head before he returned to Ash.

"What was that?" Brock asked. He, as well as everyone else, was looking on the entire time, also taken aback at how Pikachu was acting with a complete stranger.

"What was what?" Mason asked.

"What you just did, with Pikachu," Ash said, "I've never seen him do that."

"You just have to know where the sweet spot is," Mason said, "ever since I was a kid I've always been able to tell what pokemon like. I just feel more at home with pokemon than I do people, so it seems like common knowledge to me."

May's glaceon was now investigating where the sounds were coming from. Mason reached down with both hands, rubbing her sides back and forth. Glaceon leaned into Mason more and more as he went on, purring as she went, until she was eventually on her back with her feet stretched out in the air.

May watched, mouth agape, astonished at what Mason was doing. Soon the entire party of pokemon had gathered around, eager for a turn.

"Eheh…seems like I got more than I bargained for," Mason said as he was swamped by the crowd of pokemon. With the help of his new friends, Mason safely calmed the lot of them and they went back to their business.

Back at the lab, Tracey, Professor Oak and Delia looked on.

"Hm, it seems as though that boy really knows how to interact with pokemon," Professor Oak said, "Even Sceptile was curious enough to venture over."

"And did you see the way he battled with his haunter and ninetails?" Tracey spoke up, "I've never seen anything like it, Professor!"

"Well it's obvious that Poof is very skilled in combat, no matter how mischievous it may be, but there have also been known anomalies amongst pokemon, giving them strengths and abilities that would normally be uncharacteristic of their type," Professor Oak paused for a second, and then grunted as if agreeing with himself, "It seems only natural that a pokemon of that sort would be attracted to someone with an affinity for understanding pokemon."

Tracey just looked on and grunted, a usual sign from the Pokemon Watcher that he understood. Delia's attention hadn't left her son.

"They grow up so fast don't they…" she said quietly as she began to tear up, "I know everyone says that, but when you find yourself washing pokemon pajamas one day and watching your son compete in a regional championship the next, it really hits home. I bet you he's starting to think about his next adventure now. He's going to leave me again, soon. But I'll be here, ready and waiting for my little pokemon master to come home!" Delia cried out, much louder than intended. Luckily the group at the tables was caught up in small talk and didn't notice, but she left Tracey and Oak staring in an awkward silence.

"He's always been able to take care of himself, Mrs. Kethcum," Tracey reassured her, "I'm sure that even if he does take off again he'll be fine." Professor Oak nodded, remembering back to the day when Ash first received Pikachu.

"He really has grown quite a bit since meeting Pikachu. I've got a lot of faith in that young man," Oak said, "I believe he'll do just fine in life, no matter where he is or who he's with."

* * *

><p>The sun began setting and the group had moved inside, recalling their pokemon. "Well, happy birthday Ash, and I'm glad I could give you a present of some sort," Mason said with a smile, "but we'd better get going if we're going to make it to the pokemon center before dark."<p>

"Why don't you just stay here for the night?" Ash suggested. "There's plenty of room and I'm sure the professor won't mind."

"Not to mention the pokemon loved meeting you, and I'm sure they'd like to see you once more before you go!" Dawn chimed in.

"Well, I don't see why not. I'd really appreciate having a place to stay," Mason said, then looked down at Noone. "Whaddya think? Wanna stay here tonight?" he asked her. She nodded, yawning as she did so. "Well, it's settled then. Thanks you guys."

Ash and Delia stood in the doorway, ready to go home. Ash had a sudden thought and turned back to everyone. "You guys'll be here in the morning, right?" he asked, afraid his time with his friends might already be over.

"We'll be here," Misty answered, "Promise. We'll be staying here for the week, right, Mrs. Ketchum?" Ash's face lit up at hearing this.

"That's right, I made sure everyone was set for a small vacation before they came over." Delia said with a certain tone of accomplishment.

"Alright!" Ash jumped with joy, "It'll be just like old times. I'm sure we can find tons of things to do!"

"Already taken care of too," Professor Oak said, "Your mom made arrangements and plans for the entire week. Trust me when I say you guys will have a blast." He smiled at Delia who let out a giggle.

"I wish Max could have been here with us, but I'm glad to hear he's doing so well at the gym," Ash said as he looked at the time, "I wonder why he hasn't called yet."

"Oh you know Max, Ash. I'm sure he's been dying to tell you all about his adventures at the gym, but he's also doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't mess up." May smiled, "He'll call as soon as he gets the chance, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah!" Ash laughed, "Alright guys. I'll see you bright and early! Thanks again for everyone coming over! And it was great meeting you Mason!" Ash and Delia took off down the hill towards home.

Within a few minutes, the tables were empty and the last of the dishes were being done.

"Man…I've gotta say, it's great being here with everyone!" May said, washing up at the sink. "It seems like it's been forever since I last saw any of you guys."

"Yeah, and it's been great meeting everyone, too!" Dawn said as she winked at Misty who winked back. "It's so exciting thinking about spending an entire week here!"

"Yes, very," Professor Oak butted in, "but for now I think it's time to get some rest. I'll show you to your rooms." Professor Oak led everyone but Tracey upstairs. There was a long hallway filled with rooms for guests, plenty of space for everyone to stay. He led everyone to their respective rooms before returning downstairs to help Tracey, who was finishing up closing the lab down for the evening, taking care to lock every door and window. Finally, he checked on the pokemon outside, who were all fast asleep and calm as usual. The lights in the lab went out and everything was still.

* * *

><p>Back in Hoenn, even with all of the lights out across most of the towns, a few restless souls were still stirring. May's brother Max was still hard at work studying an upcoming challenger's pokemon for his dad. He'd already taken care of his chores and locked the gym up, and he was starting to feel drowsy. He decided that he'd continue his work tomorrow.<p>

As he was putting his books away back on the shelf he looked at the calendar and realized what day it was. "Oh no! I was supposed to call Ash and wish him a happy birthday! I wonder if it's too late! Maybe if I just-"

"Max…" A very familiar voice called out to him, one he hadn't heard in a long time. Only this time it seemed different somehow.

"It…can't be…" Max dropped the remaining books and walked mindlessly to the window.

At the same time, a boy was passing the gym heading to the pokemon center next door. The sudden appearance of Max in the Gym's window brought him to a halt. He stood in shock for a few moments. After taking a closer look, he noticed the tears in Max's eyes. As sudden as his appearance in the window, Max came crashing through the gym doors and went tearing off into the night.

"Uh…Hey! Wait!" The boy took off after Max, chasing him through what was left of the town and into the nearby forest. Max was obviously upset for some reason and it wouldn't be safe in the forest alone. "Stop! Where are you-" There was obviously no stopping him, so the boy just decided to keep chasing him until he tired himself out.

Max was sure of it when he heard the voice the second time, but it was so sad, and completely empty. It filled Max with pain hearing his old friend in such a state. "Jirachi! Where are you?" He cried out as he ran. The boy behind him couldn't help but become even more confused after hearing Max mention the legendary pokemon Jirachi, the supposed wish granter that's only supposed to appear once every thousand years.

Max tripped over what he thought at first was a stick and tumbled to the ground. He turned around to find that it was actually a sleeping seviper; or at least it had been. The pokemon turned to Max, enraged not only at having been woken up but at the new injury on its tail as well. Max finally realized exactly how far he'd run and that he was completely defenseless without any pokemon.

"Flamethrower!" Max was taken by surprise again when he spotted a boy and a charmander about 10 feet away. The charmander let out a flamethrower attack on the seviper, engulfing it in flames. The seviper quickly turned and slithered away back into the brush. "Hey, stop!" The boy yelled, even though Max had no intention of running any further. All he wanted was to cry, knowing his friend was in pain somewhere and there was nothing he could do to help.

"Jirachi…" Max looked up once more, then buried his face into has hands and sobbed. "I can't…I can't do anything to help! I'm a horrible friend!"

Max went on crying for a couple of minutes as the boy who had chased him down stood waiting, letting him get everything out. After the sobbing had died down a bit, Max stood up and wiped his eyes, approaching the stranger.

"Thanks for the help…what are you doing out here anyway?" Max asked.

"Chasing you, obviously. It's late and it's not safe out here, especially considering the fact that you don't have any pokemon." Max was obviously very distraught over something, and even though the boy knew he was probably crazy, he decided to help him back to wherever it was he needed to be. He held out his hand for Max to take. "I'm Tyrel, Pokemon Breeder. What's your name?"

Max took the boy's hand and gave it a quick shake. "My name's Max. My dad's the leader of the Petalburg gym, where I'm studying to become a Pokemon Trainer. How'd you know I was out here in the first place?" Max asked, still confused as to why this boy was here.

"I followed you after you came tearing out of the gym. I was on my way to the pokemon center at the time," Tyrel said, giving Max a smile, "You're lucky I was late getting into town. Seviper's poison sting can leave a nasty mark."

"Yeah, I guess," Max replied, his mind still fixed on Jirachi. He had never heard him so sad before. What was even more curious was that he was awake. It had only been a few years since the incident with the millennium comet, nowhere near a thousand. Something was wrong, and he was determined to find out what it was. If there was anyone in the world who had any idea what might have happened, it was Professor Oak.

"Let's get you back to the gym," Tyrel suggested, "I'm sure your dad wouldn't want you out here this la- Hey! Wait!" Suddenly the boy began running again, this time back towards the town. "What the…where does this kid get so much energy?" Tyrel's charmander let out a cry, and he recalled her into her pokeball before giving chase once more.

"Sorry! I need to figure out how to get to Kanto as soon as possible!" Max yelled back as he ran. He was surprisingly fast and was slowly pulling away from Tyrel before Tyrel yelled back.

"There's a ferry in Slateport tomorrow! Wait!" Tyrel continued running, almost as fast as he could. Nearly a second too late he realized that Max had stopped and was standing in his path. He screeched to a halt only inches away from the young boy. After catching his breath, he continued. "I was passing through town on my way to Slateport. We can take a boat there tomorrow, and the ferry leaves in the late afternoon. We can be in Kanto the day after tomorrow."

Max's eyes lit up at the thought of meeting Professor Oak again. The moment was short-lived when he realized why it was he needed to see the professor in the first place. "So you don't mind if I go with you? I don't have any pokemon yet and I don't know if I could make it by myself…"

"Why not? As long as you know how to take care of yourself, it'd be nice to have some company along the way." Tyrel smiled, realizing the boy was still depressed about something. "First we've got to get you back to the gym and make sure it's alright with your parents that you go."

"Sure. Follow me." Max led Tyrel back to town and to the gym, the pokemon center resting right next door. "I'll ask my dad in the morning. Where will you be?"

"I'll be staying next door in the pokemon center. I'll be up bright and early, so be ready to leave." Tyrel waved goodbye to Max and walked over and into the pokemon center. Max went back into the gym and tried to sleep, but couldn't get the sound of Jirachi's voice out of his head. He finally fell asleep to the memory of his mom's lullaby being sung by May.

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><p><strong>AN:** I'm sorry if it seems pieced together a little differently than last time, I'm trying to make the flow a little more smooth. =P Thanks again for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I just wanted to say thanks for the criticism guys. =] I really do enjoy it as it gives me ideas as to how I might make this a bit better. Keep in mind again that this is something I'm doing for myself, so I won't implement every single idea, but it's still very much appreciated.

On with the show!

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><p>At Professor Oak's lab, while everything was still and quiet, a pokeball opened and went unnoticed. Moments later, another one opened, and then one more. The three pokemon had waited until their trainer was fast-asleep before sneaking out. However, they didn't go very far.<p>

Hours passed and the sun began to shine into the lab. Tracey was already up, preparing for another day of work. Brock, Mason and Dawn were still asleep while Misty and May were climbing out of bed to get ready for a fun day of activities.

A cry was heard coming from May's room. Dawn, who was staying in the same room, jumped out of her bed as Misty rushed in to investigate, followed by Tracey only moments later.

"My pokemon! Team Rocket must have been here; Munchlax, Glaceon and Skitty are gone!" May was holding her three empty pokeballs in her hand for everyone to see. "Do those guys **ever** give up?"

Misty was the first to notice the discrepancies and spoke up. "May, why would Team Rocket only steal those three? And why would they take them out of their pokeballs instead of just taking the pokeballs too?"

"Besides, I locked all of the doors and windows, and they were still locked this morning when I woke up." Tracey added, "Nobody came in or out all night, or if they did, they were really good at concealing their tracks, and that doesn't sound like Team Rocket."

"But if nobody stole them, then where…" May thought for a second before reaching an epiphany, "wait a minute, where's that boy, Mason?" Everyone looked around at each other for a second, unsure of what to say. May became furious, still not taking into account what Misty and Tracey had just mentioned. "That little thief! It was all a plot to come here and steal our pokemon!"

Before anybody could stop her, May went storming out of the room headed straight for Mason's to look for any evidence he might have left behind. She opened the door and gasped, shocked at what she saw. There in the bed was Mason, fast asleep. Cuddled up next to him with his arm draped over her was Noone, while on his other side lay Glaceon. Skitty was asleep at the head of the bed and Munchlax had fallen asleep towards the bottom. Noone's ears perked up and she lifted her head as May entered the room. She gave what seemed to be a smile and a small whine before laying her head back down.

"What is it?" Mason asked without opening his eyes, "Just give it a minute, it'll go away."

Brushing off the half-asleep-talk, May cleared her throat, bringing Mason to full alert.

"Eh-Oh hi. May was it? Sorry, did I sleep in too long?"

"Not exactly," May said cryptically. She found the scene in front of her to be rather cute. "Look on the bed."

Mason took a quick glance around and noticed the company that had joined him overnight. "Oh…I see. Missing something?"

"Just three pokemon," May said, playing along, "have you seen them?"

"One's kind of big, eats a lot? Another one's pink and fuzzy? The other is a little cold to the touch?" Mason asked as he laid his head back and rubbed his eyes.

"Those'd be the ones," May replied, "I take it you know where they are?" She was actually enjoying some playful banter with a stranger.

"Haven't the slightest clue." Mason answered, laying his head back down.

Considering the odd circumstances, May was willing to give her pokemon a break. "We'll be downstairs in a few minutes for breakfast, you're welcome to join us," she offered with a smile, "just be sure to bring your guests."

"That'd be lovely," Mason answered. May smiled as she closed the door. She turned and jumped at the sight of everyone hovering behind her.

"So what is it? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, still droopy-eyed and dressed in her pajamas.

May giggled, "Apparently they snuck off in the middle of the night and ended up in here. I'd probably be mad at them, but they've never misbehaved before, and he was pretty good with them yesterday."

"Aw, how cute!" Dawn cried, clasping her hands together. She and the other girls laughed. Tracey just smiled at seeing how well they all got along. Ash said it right when he said they were meant to meet, and to become best friends. He'd be happy to see them all again today, but there was still a lot to do, so he headed downstairs to get breakfast ready.

The others returned to their rooms to get dressed for the day. Misty took the liberty of waking Brock from his rather pleasant dreams which this morning were filled with images working alongside Nurse Joy, curing sick patients and falling madly in love with one another.

Once they were dressed, they began filing into the kitchen. Last to arrive was Mason. Cowering behind him were Glaceon, Skitty and Munchlax, afraid to face their trainer after having misbehaved.

Mason chuckled, "Looks like they know they're in trouble." He looked down to Munchlax, "Why not go say sorry?"

The three pokemon slowly walked over to May with their heads down. Munchlax looked at the others and nodded, and the three of them jumped up and showered May in hugs and kisses. She fell back with the three pokemon, laughing and hugging them as everyone laughed with her. When the commotion was over, May recalled them.

Tracey finished the cooking and everbody sat down to enjoy their breakfast. As an awkward silence fell over the lot of them, Dawn took it upon herself to spark a conversation.

"So May, how go the contests?" She asked.

"Oh, same old news. Won some ribbons, lost to Drew," May said without smiling.

"Speaking of Drew…" Brock started, hoping May would finish for him.

"Let's not." May said, and forced a smile. Brock was left confused, sure he had seen something between the two of them when they were traveling together. After a moment, May continued. "Let's just say that he can't buy me, or her," May said, not clearly referencing anybody, "with just a few roses." Brock slumped into his chair, disappointed at the news. He guessed that when you put a charming personality on an egotistical jerk, that's what you'd get.

"Sorry to hear that," he said, "he seemed like a pretty nice guy."

May smiled, "Part of the past, we're here to have fun, right?"

Brock laughed, "You got that right!"

Dawn and May continued to chat about their contests, Brock caught Misty up on the many mishaps Ash had had after Misty left, and Mason and Tracey shared their breakfast with the pokemon. Before they knew it, every scrap of food was gone. The boys collected up the dishes and took them to the sink.

Mason was prepared to stay and help with the dishes, but Tracey insisted on doing them himself. Looking outside at the bright day, Mason decided it was time to continue on his way.

"Thanks again for giving us a place to stay, and for the breakfast," Mason said to Tracey, "we really do appreciate it. And the food was spectacular." Noone hummed in agreement. Mason walked to the doorway and turned around, "Thanks for everything, everyone! It's been great meeting you all," he turned to May, "Sorry about Poof's scare yesterday, and your pokemon last night. I hope they're not in too much trouble."

May smiled, "After the way they acted this morning, I decided to let them off with a warning."

"Maybe we'll see you guys again sometime," Mason said. Misty's azurill ran up to give Mason a hug before he left. He tugged on its ear a little and it gave a happy sigh before jumping down and running back to Misty. "Bye everyone!" Everyone waved goodbye as Mason opened the door right as Ash came bursting through.

"Hey guy-Oh, hey Mason! Sorry!" Mason stepped back a bit and let Ash through.

"Oh no worries, come on in." Ash and Delia came through the door. "I was just saying goodbye. It was great meeting you, keep up the training, you're a great trainer." Ash shook Mason's hand.

"You too! Maybe we can battle again someday!" Ash looked at the rest of the group as Mason and Noone slipped out the door. Mason could hear everyone laughing and enjoying themselves as he made his way down the hill. It was definitely a much more eventful night than he had planned, but they obviously had plans and Mason was more than content to continue on his way with some good memories.

Back at Oak's, the group was chatting amongst themselves as they finished cleaning up after breakfast. Brock and Tracey were discussing pokemon at the sink as they washed dishes, Dawn and Misty were recalling stories of Ash dressing up as a girl while Ash simply gave a few embarrassed chuckles now and again, and May was helping Delia wash off the table.

"So where'd that young man make it off to?" Delia asked May.

"I'm not sure. He never really said where he was going, just that he had to go."

"Well that's too bad, he seemed like a really nice boy. And he had such a lovely ninetails." Delia shrugged, "I guess we were going to be busy today anyway. I'm sure if he's ever back in town he'll stop by for a visit."

"Yeah…" May thought about mentioning that she probably wouldn't be here if that ever happened, but wondered why that would matter in the first place.

Soon the chuckles and laughter coming from Ash and Misty turned to yelling as Dawn cowered in the middle of them.

"You are **so** immature and egotistical!" Misty was in Ash's face, staring him down as he stared right back.

"Well I **was **the chosen one, right? If you guys are going to be gossiping about all the times I goofed up you might as well acknowledge some of the things I did to help!"

"Well, mister 'Chosen One,' if you're so high and mighty, how come you never paid me back for my bike that you destroyed?"

Ash cringed as the room suddenly filled with an air of hostility. A chain reaction was about to occur that he knew wouldn't end well for him.

"Wait a minute…he destroyed your bike?" May asked, walking over. "He torched mine too, brand new and everything." Ash prayed that Dawn wouldn't say anything.

"Hey…now that I think of it, his pikachu is the one who broke **my **bike…" Pikachu cowered behind Ash's shoulder.

"You mean…you destroyed their bikes…too?" Misty was holding back what seemed to be rage, something Ash had experienced before. He simply shut his eyes tight and waited for his just desserts. To his surprise, she began bursting with laughter as the other two joined in.

"You're not…mad?" Ash asked, his arms still up and ready to block whatever was thrown his way.

"I got over the bike thing months before I went back to Cerulean, I just liked giving you a hard time about it," Misty said, talking in-between giggles.

"Mine wasn't really such a big deal either," Dawn added, "it was a lot more fun walking the whole way anyway." The four of them all began laughing and joking with each other, still reminiscing in adventures past.

Further back, Tracey, Brock, Professor Oak and Delia were all watching, chuckling to themselves.

"I remember when things were actually hostile whenever those two were together," Tracey said, gesturing to Ash and Misty. "A lot's changed between them over the years."

"And I've got a pretty good feeling that a lot hasn't," Brock said with a grin on his face, "Time has a way of changing a lot of things in a lot of ways, but once those two start talking again, time always seems to get put on hold."

Tracey chuckled, while Delia and Professor Oak just looked at each other and smiled.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the ocean, a nearly-forgotten island sat, covered in what was once a great laboratory used for cloning. A man in an orange suit stood over the remains of a machine, once used to generate immense amounts of energy, now part of the very island it sits on.<p>

"Is the data entry there?" The man asked. A scientist knelt over the machine and began picking apart at it. A few seconds later, he held a small box in his hand, seemingly still operational.

"This is it, sir." The scientist informed the man.

"Perfect. Let's leave this forsaken place." The men climbed into a helicopter, lifted off and left the island for nature to do with what it pleased. They got what they came for. The man in the suit let out a deep chuckle.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **'Till next time. =]


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey guys. I accidentally put two chapters together last update, this is me fixing that. My bad.

* * *

><p>As the sun began shining through the window, Tyrel was already up and ready to leave his room. He checked out of the pokemon center, thanking Nurse Joy for everything. He took a moment to breathe the morning air before heading next door to the pokemon gym. To his surprise, Max was waiting at the door for him, bags packed and everything.<p>

"Alright, let's go!" Max cried, walking away, holding some kind of machine in his hand. Tyrel stood dumbfounded for a second before running to catch up with him.

"You know where you're going?" Tyrel asks.

"Yep. I've got a PokeNav. I used it a while back when I traveled through Hoenn and Kanto, it works fine. I take it we're heading through Oldale town?" Max was still looking at his PokeNav, hitting a few buttons.

"Yes, and we'll be taking a riverboat around into Slateport. It's faster than walking the trail." Tyrel reached down and pulled Max slightly toward him, helping him to avoid running into a sign. "Watch where you're going."

Max looked up for a second, then gave Tyrel an embarrassed look. "Sorry, won't happen again." He gave the PokeNav one more look-over before closing it and putting it into his pocket. He grabbed the straps on his backpack and walked on, remembering the voices he had heard last night.

The two of them walked on in silence for a few hours. Max's thoughts bounced around from excitement to sorrow as he thought of being able to see his friends again, and then thought of Jirachi and what kind of trouble he might be in. It was obvious to Tyrel that there was something going on with Max, but he wasn't going to press anything.

The two of them came upon Oldale town and were in and out of the small town within a few minutes as they continued on their trail. Soon the sun was hot overhead. A short ways out of Oldale they discovered a small brook.

"Hey Max, what time is it?" Tyrel looked up at the sky to get a bit of an idea. Max pulled out the PokeNav to check.

"Just about noon. Why? What time does the ferry leave?" Max checked the PokeNav again. "At the rate we're going it should only be another hour or so walk."

"Not for a couple more hours. We've got some time, why not rest here for a bit?" Tyrel asked, taking his pack off and fishing out his lunch.

"Sounds great, I'm starving." Max set his pack down and sat on a nearby rock, pulling his sandwich out of his bag. Max began digging in as Tyrel opened up a few cans of pokemon food and set them near the stream. He pulled his pokeballs off of his belt and threw them into the air, letting his pokemon out.

"A metagross! No way!" Max ran up and examined the pokemon as it ate its lunch. "Metagross are the coolest!"

Tyrel laughed, "Yeah, I've had him since he was just an egg."

"I didn't know metagross had eggs…" Max was still looking over the giant pokemon.

"Neither did Professor Birch, that's why he gave me the egg."

"You know Professor Birch? And he gave you an egg!" Max looked at Tyrel with envy, "That's so cool! Why'd Professor Birch have a beldum egg though? And why'd he give it to you?"

"Well I also hatched my charmander from an egg. She was actually my first pokemon. I found her egg on Mossdeep island near my house. Being so young I didn't know what kind of egg it was, and to my surprise neither did Professor Birch." Tyrel took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Professor Birch didn't know what kind of egg it was? Why wouldn't he know something as simple as a charmander egg?" Max had forgotten completely about his lunch.

"Because they're extremely rare here in the Hoenn region. How often do you see a charmander around here? And how would an egg find its way all the way to Mossdeep Island?" Tyrel took a rather large and dramatic bite of his sandwich, noticing that Max wasn't eating. "After it hatched, Professor Birch told me that one of his assistants had found another egg in the ruins near Oldale and wanted to know if I'd look after it for him. It took quite some time, but it eventually hatched into a beldum."

"Woaahh…" Max continued to look on with envy. Tyrel simply pointed to Max's hands and he noticed his sandwich was falling apart. He quickly pulled what was left of it together and took a bite.

"After that I decided I wanted to figure out everything I could about pokemon breeding. Why was there a charmander egg on my island? Why was there a beldum egg in some ruins?" Tyrel finished off his sandwich as his glaceon came up and sat next to him. "I started searching through Sinnoh for beldum to find any answers I could. We tried a gym match once, but didn't have much luck."

Max chuckled, remembering his times with Ash and the gym battles he had. "Not everyone's cut out for battle, I guess."

"It would take time away from my research anyway," Tyrel replied defensively. "Anyway, almost as soon as we found another beldum, they joined and evolved into a metang. Not long afterward we encountered a wild metang that helped mine evolve into this metagross. We had a rough patch for a bit when he wouldn't listen to me, but we settled our differences and he's been a great pokemon ever since."

Charmander and Metagross had finished their meals and Metagross was wading through the water, dodging ember attacks from Charmander, a game they would play quite often.

"Then of course I got another egg while in Sinnoh that hatched into an eevee. It startled me by evolving into a glaceon while we were training near Snowpoint, a place known to have strange properties. The three of us having been roaming the world conducting our research ever since." Tyrel gave Glaceon's head a pat. Glaceon responded by burying her head into Tyrel's leg.

Max was thinking over everything Tyrel had said and suddenly got a perplexed look on his face. "If you've had Charmander for so long, how come your eevee and beldum evolved so much sooner?"

"These are the kinds of questions I want to be able to answer. I honestly can't tell you why because I don't know. Maybe Charmander doesn't want to evolve, maybe she can't evolve. Who knows?" Max was a little disappointed with this answer, but let it be and just finished his sandwich.

The boys sat and watched Metagross and Charmander play in the water. Eventually Glaceon joined them and all manners of splash fights and games of tag took place while the boys just watched and laughed. Little did they know they weren't the only ones watching the pokemon play. Not far away, a familiar pair of eyes peered through a set of binoculars with no-good intent.

* * *

><p>"Looks like da kid's got a metagross, a glaceon, and a charmander. Da boss would pay big for <strong>any <strong>of those pokemon." Meowth lowered the binoculars as Jessie and James appeared behind him. "But we're not going to catch just **any** **one** of 'em, we're gonna catch **every one**." James and Jessie laughed quietly.

"It'll be a lot easier than trying to battle that twerp too," Jessie mentioned, "These kids will never see us coming!"

"I kinda miss the twerps though, even though they caused us so much trouble," James said sullenly, "We may have been blasted off more times than any of us can count, but those were **our** twerps. Sometimes I wish the boss hadn't re-assigned us…" None of them had recognized Max after a few years.

"Oh quit your whining," Jessie commanded, "The twerps all split up anyway and started being all lazy. We're lucky he didn't just fire us."

"Yeah, besides, once we get dese pokemon back, da boss'll be so happy that he'll give us a huge promotion and we can pick wherever we want to go!" Meowth closed his eyes and began daydreaming about sitting on Giovanni's lap and pushing his persian out of the picture.

"What are we waiting for, let's go!" Jessie climbed out of the bush they were hiding in and James and Meowth followed.

At the stream, Tyrel and Max were putting their packs back on and getting ready to go. Suddenly a voice was heard coming from behind them.

"Hey! That's a great-looking glaceon you have there!" Tyrel and Max turned to see a spiky-haired boy with an umbreon.

"Thank you," Tyrel replied, "your umbreon looks good as well." The boy walked up and knelt down next to Glaceon and began petting her.

"Did you evolve it from an eevee?" The boy asked.

"Yes, which I hatched from an egg" Tyrel answered matter-of-factly

"Mine too. They're great pokemon, aren't they?" The boy stood up and introduced himself. "My name's Gary Oak, and I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just passing by and couldn't help but notice your glaceon."

"Gary Oak…" Max thought for a second, "Hey wait! Isn't your grandpa Professor Oak?"

"That's right. He's the one who inspired me to become a Pokemon Professor myself. Do you know him?"

"Yeah! My friend Ash knows him really well! He's there with him right now, as well as my sister and a few other friends!"

Gary chuckled, "So you're Max, huh?"

Max paused for a second before answering. "Uh…yeah, how'd you know?"

"Ash told me all about you. We've known each other since we were kids. He said he traveled through Hoenn with you and your sister. I'm actually on my way there now to meet up with him for his birthday. I was supposed to be there yesterday, but got a little caught-up. Funny I'd run into you here, huh?"

"Wow! That's just where we were going-" Max stopped to correct himself, "Well, that's where **I** was going, Tyrel's taking me to the ferry."

"Nice to meet you both," Gary said, "If you're heading to Kanto, I take it that means you're heading to Slateport right now?"

"That's right," Tyrel answered, "If you're going the same way, why not join us?"

"Sure." Gary and Tyrel shook hands and they set off. Max pulled the PokeNav out for a second to check their path while Tyrel recalled all of his pokemon.

Not far off, Team Rocket hid in the bushes, watching everything. Jessie was upset at Gary's arrival. "Grrr…It's the twerp's friend. There's no way we'll be able to get past him."

"Hold on a second, dey said dey was headin' back to Kanto to see the twerp, right?" Jessie and James nodded as Meowth talked, "So we follow 'em, stow away aboard the ship and when we get to Kanto, we steal **everyone's** pokemon! Da boss'll have so many pokemon, he won't have any time to run tings anymore! He'll put us in charge while he takes time off just to count how many we brought 'im!" The three of them giggled for a second before returning to the binoculars to see where the boys are going.

Tyrel, Gary and Max had already taken off on their path, drawing ever closer to the boat that will take them to Slateport city. Team Rocket followed, sticking to the shadows and remaining out of sight. Max's thoughts were temporarily distracted as he got to enjoy some nostalgia as he travels with his new friends, maintaining the PokeNav and enjoying a nice, sunny day.

* * *

><p>In Kanto a familiar scene was taking place. A certain boy and his ninetails were chasing a haunter through the streets and small shops of Pallet Town, attempting to retrieve the boy's backpack. The difference was the determination the boy saw in his haunter, who hadn't turned around to insult him once, which was unusual for the unruly pokemon. The streets and shops were all the same as the day before, and the boy might have been able to guess where the pokemon was headed if he wasn't so focused on keeping up with him.<p>

Across town at Professor Oak's lab, the group was getting packed for a trip to Johto for the day. Ash's mom had bought six tickets for the magnet train in Saffron, which would take them to the heart of Goldenrod City: the shopping and fun capital of Johto and Kanto. Ash arrived ready to go and Misty, May, Dawn and Brock had all gotten their things together for the day.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Dawn cried, "I've never been to Johto before, let alone Goldenrod City!"

"I only got to pass through it in my time in Johto, but it looked like a blast!" May said, gleaming with anticipation, "There's **so **much shopping to be done!" She and Dawn grabbed hands and jumped for joy.

"Not to mention all the beautiful girls!" Brock began daydreaming, "There will be so many beautiful women just waiting for a young and handsome man like myself to ride by and sweep them off of their feet! Oh man, I won't be able to pick just one! But there's plenty of love in my heart to go around-GAH!" Ow ow ow!"

Misty instinctively pulled Brock out of the room by the ear, "There's plenty of air in your head to go around, too."

"Well I'm going to go straight to the trainer store!" Ash grinned with joy. "Maybe they've got some new and fancy pokeball for me to try out! Or maybe they've got videos of me in the Silver Conference! Or the Lily of the Valley Conference!"

"I bet you I can find one of those 'Pokemon Personality' books," Misty said, "It's so exciting to find out what kind of pokemon personality you have!" As they continued to pack, they all dreamt of the exciting times they would have in Goldenrod City. That was, until Delia spoke up.

"Hey Tracey…is that what you're wearing today?" She noticed that he hadn't changed since breakfast.

"Wait, what? Oh no, I'm not going!" Tracey waved his hands back and forth defensively. "I've got way too many things to do here, there's no way I could take the day off."

"But I bought you your ticket!" Delia cried, frustrated. "Ohhh, now what are we supposed to do?"

Professor Oak emerged from another room in the lab. "I'm sorry Delia, but I really could use Tracey's help around here. We were planning on excavating the land around the pond and expanding the waters for the water pokemon."

"I understand Professor, but that means I bought an extra ticket for nothing…" Delia frowned.

"Don't worry, mom. Maybe we can exchange it at the train station!" Ash gave his mom a thumbs up in hopes of cheering her up.

"I wish. Read the ticket." Ash held his ticket in front of him and read aloud.

"Mmm…Saffron…Goldenrod…Oh, non-refundable. Dang. That stinks…" Ash frowned as well and the group remained silent for a moment.

May suddenly screamed and the group turned to see what was wrong. Deja vu set in as they sew her lift off of the ground and wiggle in place. This time, however, she hovered toward the door.

"What the…eh, hey!" Ash yelled as he made a run for May. He was too late as the door swung open and she floated outside. The group all followed after her, hoping to reach her before anything happened. Outside May was floating along even faster now, only a few feet off of the ground.

"Waaahh! Not again!" After a few moments, she felt herself falling toward the ground and braced for the impact. Instead she felt herself crash into someone, sending both of them backward into the ground. She shook the impact off and looked to see Mason lying next to her, panting heavily with Noone by his side.

"Sorry…about…that…" Mason sighed between gasps.

"What's going on!" Ash yelled as he made his way down the hill next to May. "Hey, what's the big idea!"

"I'm fine Ash, don't worry" May said as she stood up and brushed herself off. "The ground around here is softer than usual," she said as she looked down to where Mason was still laying. "Lucky me, huh?"

"I don't think luck had anything to do with it," Mason said, his arm still over his eyes as he panted heavily. Suddenly Poof appeared in front of May, smiling as big as he could. May jumped back, startled for a second, but relaxed when he moved closer to hug her. He started glowing red as Mason recalled him into his pokeball, the backpack dropping to the ground once again.

"I really am very, truly sorry about that," Mason grunted as he stood up, "he obviously wasn't ready to leave without saying goodbye. I made the mistake of taking my eye off of my pack for a second and he was off." As he spoke, Misty's azurill came racing past Ash and May and jumped into Mason's arms. He gave it another tug on the ear and it cried out in happiness, kicking its leg.

"Don't worry about it," May said, "I'm pretty sure you took the brunt of the fall anyway."

"I'll have to thank him for that later," Mason said with a smile. He continued to pat Azurill's head as Pikachu climbed off of Ash's shoulder and joined Azurill with Mason. Everyone laughed as Mason struggled to hold the two pokemon for a few moments.

"You know, the pokemon all seem to really like you, and Poof obviously likes May," Brock began, "you wouldn't happen to be busy today and tomorrow, would you?" Everyone turned to Brock, confused as to what he might be getting at.

"Aside from the normal schedule of just walking to wherever the trail leads, no. Why?" As Mason spoke Azurill hopped down and ran back Misty, Pikachu following shortly after.

"We happen to have an extra ticket for the magnet train," everyone's faces lit up as they realized what Brock had planned, "and it also happens to be non-refundable. If you haven't got anything planned, why not join us? It's going to be a blast!"

"Sounds like fun, lemme just check with the boss lady." Mason looked down to Noone, who looked back with a gleaming smile and a nod. "I guess Noone doesn't want to go, so we won't be going with you." Noone let out a low growl and rammed into Mason's leg, sending him stumbling a few steps. "Okay! I was just kidding! We're in."

The group all jumped for joy, celebrating as they returned to the lab. Mason got changed into some more comfortable clothes and met up with everyone in the kitchen where Delia was going through a quick checklist to make sure everything was set.

"Come on Mom! We're ready, I promise! Can we just go?" Ash whined, growing impatient.

"There! All set!" Delia chirped as she put her checklist into her purse and opened the door, "Time to go! Everyone load up into the van!" The group all ran out of the lab, yelling their goodbyes to Tracey and Professor Oak as they went. They piled into the van, ready and eager for the trip to Goldenrod. As soon as they were all strapped in, the van sped off on the road to Saffron.

* * *

><p>Somewhere far off on a small island lay the rubble of a once-operational flying fortress. The remnants were those of the Flying Palace, owned and operated by Pokemon Collector Lawrence III, who was obsessed with capturing Lugia and the legendary trio of birds to add to his collection.<p>

Having lain on such a small and desolate island, the remains of this giant machine had been undisturbed for years. A man now stood amongst the scattered and broken pieces, holding a picture and digging through the rubble. For a moment, it seemed as though he was ready to give up, until he spotted an object in the distance. He made a run for it, scattering torn and smashed garbage as he went. He cleared as much trash off of the object as he could and examined it. It wasn't not operational, but in tact. He grinned as he pulled out a PokeGear and makes a call.

"Sir, I've found it…Yes sir, of course…It won't run right now, but it's fully intact and…Understood. Immediately." The man put the PokeGear away and pulled out a remote control, pressing one of the buttons. A submarine appeared near the coast and a crew of men rushed to the scene. "Pack it up. Be careful, it needs to remain intact."

The man walked off, at first chuckling, and then burst into maniacal laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Once more, with feeling!

* * *

><p>The van arrived at the Saffron City train station with a few minutes to spare. The group all pile out, stretching and yawning.<p>

"We made it!" Ash began running toward the entrance with Pikachu following close behind. "Look Pikachu! There's the train!" He stopped and pointed up toward the track as a train was pulling in. Pikachu cried out and hopped up onto his shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Ash!" Delia called out after him, but it was too late as he'd already entered the station. "Oh, that boy. He never can sit still. He forgot his luggage."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Ketchum," Brock said, "I'll grab it. It's nothing I haven't done for him before!" At the back of the van, the girls were all fishing their packs out and making sure they had everything they needed.

"A change of clothes for the morning, toothbrush…" Dawn zipped her pack up, "All set! I'll see you guys in there!" She took off for the entrance. Misty and May were just finishing checking their packs as Brock grabbed his and Ash's. May closed hers and took off like Dawn before her.

A loud thud was heard from the station and everyone turned around. What they saw was May pressed against the glass window she had just run into. Back at the van, Misty and Brock simply stared while Delia gasped. Inside the station laughter could be heard coming from Ash who had witnessed the entire thing.

Mason slowly walked over and opened what was actually the door. "After…you…" he said, finding a lack of anything else to say. May took a step back and gave an embarrassed chuckle before stepping through. As soon as the others had finished checking everything, they joined the group inside.

"Alight kids, be careful!" Delia was seeing everyone off, "And Ash, don't forget to take a bath and brush your teeth!" Ash's face turned bright red as the girls giggled.

"Mom! I've got it! We'll be fine, don't worry!" Ash gave his mom a hug and walked away, waving goodbye. "Thanks again for the wonderful present! We'll be sure to tell you all about it!"

The group boarded the train and was shown to their cart, which to their surprise was completely empty. Ash and Pikachu ran straight to the first seat and peered out the window, where the rest of Saffron City could be seen. Misty followed close behind, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey!" Ash turned and yelled, "What's the deal! We've got an entire cart!"

Misty giggled, "Yeah, but this is my seat, see?" She held up her ticket with her seat number, which Ash checked. He then checked his own ticket and saw he was already in his own seat and sighed. "Don't worry," Misty said with a wink, "I promise to be nice." She and Ash laughed as they sat down.

Brock and Dawn put their packs in the overhead compartments and took their seats next to each other, directly behind Ash and Misty. Behind them were Mason and May, with Noone on the ground between them. The "Fasten Seat Strap" light came on and everyone buckled up as the train powered up. A deep hum was heard coming from the floor and Azurill hid in Misty's jacket.

Before they knew it the train was in motion and moving at incredible speeds. The conductor came on over the intercom: "We've just left Saffron City headed for Goldenrod City. We have an estimated travel time of only 50 minutes, so we should be arriving within the hour. Please remain seated with your belts fastened while the train is in motion. Thank you for riding the Magnet Train."

Mason looked down at Noone, who was laying on the floor resting her head on her paws. "Did you hear that? Buckle up, missy." Noone let loose an ember attack on Mason.

May giggled, "Just like my blaziken used to do as a torchic." May reached down and gave Noone a pat on the head as Noone smiled at her accomplishment. In front of them, Brock had pulled out a map of Goldenrod City and was plotting out different routes and spots for them to meet up at at certain times.

"Come on Brock! I can't see out the window!" Dawn shoved the map into Brock's lap and peered out the window, astonished to see the world go zooming by at such a fast speed.

"Excuse me, but I'm doing this work so nobody else has to." Brock leaned over the map and continued to doodle on it, his spiky hair now blocking Dawn's view. She let out a groan and slumped back in her seat, crossing her arms.

Ash was still peering out his window as the world zoomed by. "Woah…" He had his hands against the window while Pikachu watched from Ash's shoulder. "Isn't it awesome, Pikachu?" Pikachu cried out in agreement as the world whizzed past them in a flash.

"You wanna see, Azurill?" Misty opened her jacket and Azurill peeked out. He took a step forward, standing cautiously for a moment before running back into the safety of Misty's jacket. "Aw, don't worry. We'll be there before you know it!"

"I hope so!" Ash turned back and faced the front of the train, daydreaming, "There's going to be plenty of trainers to battle and pokemon to see! Maybe even some wild ones to catch! You ready, Pikachu?" Pikachu held up a fist in agreement.

Misty laughed, "Some things will never change, will they?"

"You mean like how you could never beat me?" Ash smirked.

"I seem to recall Psyduck beating Kingler in a certain tournament held just for water pokemon."

"That was luck!"

"Imagine, the great Ash Ketchum, beaten by a girl," Misty giggled.

Dawn poked her head around to comment, "Wait, you mean **you** beat **Ash**? Wow!"

"It was pure luck!" Ash yelled, "Psyduck didn't even use a water move to beat Kingler!"

"It was your fault," Misty said, "you made Kingler use vicegrip and gave Psyduck his headache. Either way, _you_ were eliminated," Misty stuck her tongue out at Ash who growled back.

"I still can't believe it either, beaten by a dumb Psyduck that can't even swim…"

Misty's face turned to a scowl as she turned and grabbed Ash by the collar. "**My psyduck is not dumb**!" She shook Ash a few times, "**You're the dummy!**" Dawn watched with a dumbfounded look while Brock continued fussing with his map. Further back Mason noticed the commotion.

"So…how do you all know each other again?" Mason asked May, hoping that an answer to what was going on might be in there somewhere.

"Well we're all best friends, but we know each other thanks to Ash," May started, "He wants to become a Pokemon Master and has been traveling ever since he was ten. Along the way we've all traveled with him at different times. He and Misty traveled all though Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto together. My brother and I were with him through Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier. Dawn was with him throughout Sinnoh. Brock's been there since the beginning, until he recently left to study to become a Pokemon Doctor. Even though we've all been separated by such long distances, we've all been best friends since the moment we met." She smiled, remembering when she first joined Ash, back when she despised pokemon.

"So why is it that those two always seem to be duking it out?" Mason asked, looking forward again. Misty had let go of Ash's collar and they were in each others faces, arguing about a tododile.

Brock turned toward the window with his map in front of him, "You should have seen it a long time ago, when they were actually fighting. That was not something you wanted to get in the middle of."

"Well if that's not fighting…then what is it?" Mason asked, still watching the front seat.

"Well, some might call it flirting, but I think it's a bit beyond that stage by now." Brock chuckled.

"**What**?" May burst out, then covered her mouth, "You mean Misty and Ash? No way!"

Meanwhile Dawn had turned around and was eavesdropping and decided to add her opinion. "I think they'd be really cute! You should have seen how Ash acted when I tried to take his 'Misty Super Lure' away from him!" She giggled at the memory.

"Now that you mention it…" As May was about to finish her thought, the yelling was replaced with laughter. Everyone looked forward to see Ash and Misty giggling together. They smiled at each other for a moment in silence. Suddenly they realized that everyone was watching them. Ash's face turned red and he turned to face the window again, almost flinging Pikachu off of his shoulder. Misty turned the other way and simply looked at the floor.

Brock turned back and whispered, "See what I mean? Have faith in Brock, I know my way around the battlefield of love."

"Coming from the guy who's been rejected by every girl he's ever talked to," Dawn said, rolling her eyes. Brock's face turned sullen as he sulked down into his seat.

Mason looked forward again at Ash and Misty, who had gone back into their own little worlds, Ash admiring the passing sights and Misty comforting Azurill. Noone noticed Mason's face and sat up, nudging his leg.

"Oh shush," he said to her. He scratched her behind her ear and she started kicking her leg. Pikachu heard the commotion and remembered how Mason had pet him the day before. He hopped over Brock's seat and plopped onto Mason's lap. "Well hey there, Pikachu!" Mason cried when the mouse landed.

Ash turned to see what was happening and laughed when he saw Mason petting Pikachu. "Enjoying yourself, buddy?" He called out. Pikachu turned to give Ash a big smile.

"It's so cute to see how the pokemon act around you," May said, "almost as though you've known each other forever." She gave Pikachu a pat on the head before he hopped back over the seats to Ash. "I'm really glad you got to come on this trip with us," she said absent-mindedly.

Mason grinned, knowing she had just let something slip, "Oh, really?" Noone's ears perked up and she looked toward May. Meanwhile Brock was eavesdropping in the seat in front of them.

"Eh-I mean, the pokemon all really like you, and I'm glad they'll be able to spend some more time with you," May answered, her cheeks becoming rosy. Mason chuckled a little. Noone tilted her head to the side a bit before laying back down. Brock let out a soft chuckle before folding his map up and putting it away.

The group all settled into their seats and got comfortable for the rest of the ride. In less than an hour, they'd all be touring the grand Goldenrod City, and dreams of all of the fun they would have begun filling their heads.

**17**

The day wasn't going so great in other parts of the world. A small rainstorm had made its way over the southern parts of Hoenn, drenching Tyrel, Gary and Max on their way to Slateport city.

"I thought the boat we were going to take was going to be a bit bigger…" Max said. The three of them were on a small motorboat speeding down the river. Tyrel had made arrangements with the owner to take it to Slateport, where he would dock it for the owner to pick up when he returned from Kanto.

"It's what we've got, so we've got to make it work," Tyrel said. He was manning the rudder, though the path was a pretty straight one.

"This rain isn't helping at all…" Gary was holding his pack over his head, though the wind was still blowing the rain into his face. "Are you sure this way is faster?"

"Would you rather be walking right now?" Tyrel asked. Gary simply grunted and tried his best to keep himself dry. Max had put the PokeNav into a plastic bag and stored it in his pack.

The three of them had been riding in the boat for the past half hour, and it had only just started raining. Luckily for them, Slateport wasn't too much further ahead. In only a few minutes, they arrived and docked the small boat, stepping out to re-acquire their land-legs.

"What a relief!" Max cried as he stretched. The three of them were in the local pokemon center, drying off. "When does the ferry leave?"

"Twenty minutes, so we don't have much time," Gary said as he came out of the hallway, already dressed in dry clothes. "Hurry up and get changed or we might miss it."

The other boys took off to the dressing rooms and emerged a few minutes later. With only a few minutes to go, they hurried to the ferry.

"Tickets please," The man standing in front of the bridge to the ferry said in a scruffy voice.

"**Wait**!" Max yelled, struck by an epiphany, "I don't have a ticket! Oh noooo!" Max slapped himself in the head and leaned back, hating himself for making such a stupid mistake.

"Yes you do." Tyrel reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Max. "The professor gave me a ticket after I had already bought mine, so you can have the extra."

Max took the ticket with a smile. "Wow! Thanks a lot!" He proudly presented his ticket to the man who tore it in half and handed one of the halves back to Max. Gary and Tyrel followed behind him. Stewardesses were present to help direct passengers to their rooms.

"May I see your ticket stub, sir?" She asked Tyrel. He handed her the stub and she pointed straight down the hallway behind her. "Your room will be about halfway down on the left, room number 155. Thank you for riding the S.S. Cloud! Next please!"

Max approached and handed her his stub. "You'll be on the second floor, take the stairs straight ahead and ask one of the stewardesses down there. Thank you for riding the S.S. Cloud! Next please!"

Gary did the same as the two before him. "You'll be on the second floor as well, sir. Just take the stairs and one of the stewardesses down there will assist you. Thank you for riding the S.S. Cloud! Next please!"

The three of them grouped up before going their separate ways. "Alright, the Deck is closed for the rain," Tyrel explained, "but the Dining Hall is still open to passengers throughout the trip." He looked at his watch. "How about we meet up there in two hours when the show starts? I need some time to go over my findings, and maybe get a nap in."

"Sounds like a plan, see you there!" Gary took off down the stairs.

"See you!" Max said and started to leave. Tyrel grabbed his arm.

"Wait." Max turned and faced him. "I know you're allowed to go around and do whatever you want, but be sure to stay out of trouble. There are a lot of trainers on these rides and not all of them are friendly."

"I won't wander too much! Promise!" Max took off again down the stairs. Tyrel made his way to his room (which was much larger than he had anticipated) and unpacked everything. He sat at the desk they provided and laid out the notes he'd been taking over the last few weeks. Once it was all laid out and ready, he set about the tedious task of organizing it all.

On the floor below, the stewardesses sent Gary and Max down separate hallways to their rooms. Max's was nearly all the way at the end of his hallway, with only two rooms beyond his before the stairwell. He opened the door and was surprised to see how much space he had all to himself. He threw his backpack on the ground and ran to check the small kitchen they had given him for food. The cupboards and refrigerator were all empty, most likely just used for putting leftovers, he figured.

Gary made his way to his room and set his pack down. Umbreon went straight for the bed, jumping up and curling into a ball towards the end. "Yeah, I hear ya." Gary laid back, avoiding setting his feet on Umbreon, and closed his eyes.

A loud horn sounded and the motors started turning. The ship began slicing through the water and heading for Kanto.

**18**

On the magnet train, everyone had been enjoying the short ride to Goldenrod. Ash and Pikachu continued to stare out the window and watch the world pass them by while Misty had finally convinced Azurill to come out and enjoy the ride. Brock had fallen asleep and was snoring. Mason and May had played a game of Monkey in the Middle with a crumpled piece of Paper and Noone in the middle trying to snap it out of the air.

A voice came on over the intercom: "If you look out to the west you will see Goldenrod City as we make our approach. Please remain seated and buckled as the train comes to a halt. We will inform you when it is safe to exit your carts. Welcome to Goldenrod City, please enjoy your time in Johto and thank you for riding the Magnet Train."

Everyone began whooping and hollering as Goldenrod came into view. "Now listen, guys," Brock instructed everyone, "when we get off the train, everybody stay together and meet up right outside the station, got it?" Everyone nodded or yelled in agreement.

The train came to a complete stop and the "Fasten Seat Strap" light flicked off. The group all shot out of their seats and ran toward the doors. The train station was filled with people, both boarding and exiting the train. The group did as Brock instructed and stayed together, making their way to the exit.

Everyone stepped outside and gasped as the sights.

"It's just like I remember it!" Misty said as she twirled, looking at all of the skyscrapers.

"I remember Whitney getting us lost on the way to her own gym," Ash muttered. No one seemed to catch his comment or care one way or the other. Everyone was lost in thought, bursting with excitement as they prepared for a day of shopping and fun.

"Alright, listen up!" Brock held his hand up and everyone turned and circled around him. He pulled out his map and held it in the middle of the circle for everyone to see. "As you all know, there's plenty to do here in Goldenrod, but we need to stay in contact." He pointed to a spot on the map with an "x" over it. "This is where we'll be meeting for lunch in one hour! So don't go too far!" He folded up the map and put it away again. "I'll explain everything else over lunch. For now, we all have our PokeGears, right?"

"Yep!" Ash held his up.

"Roger!" Misty flashed a peace sign.

"Yes sir!" May showed hers.

"Right here!" Dawn fished hers out of her pocket.

"Nope." Mason said simply. "Never had one. Never needed one, really…"

"Er…Well that's fine. How about you just pair up with someone?" Brock suggested.

"Hey! Why don't you come with me!" Ash turned to face Mason, "We'll visit all the trainer stores and probably get some battles in!"

Mason looked at Noone, "You up for it?" Noone smiled and nodded. "Sure, we're game!"

"Alright everyone, remember, one hour!" Brock yelled as everyone split up. Soon they were all off, enjoying their own slice of paradise in Goldenrod City.

**19**

In a very small town in Hoenn, former Team Magma member Butler stared out of his window. There in their garden was Diane, his life-long partner and newlywed wife. The two of them had been through very trying times only a few years back as Butler attempted to use the powers of Jirachi to create a Groudon. After seeing the purity of the wish granting pokemon and those who helped him, he decided to reform his life and take care of the things most important to him. For the past year he and Diane had lived in solitude far from the fast life of the big city, enjoying every day as its own miracle.

As he watched Diane a smile formed on his face. He was thankful once again for the way things had turned out, knowing full well that he wasn't deserving of a second chance, especially not one with Diane.

The smile vanished almost instantly when a familiar car pulled up beside Diane. Before the passengers could even step out of the car, Butler came bursting out of the house.

"Diane, go inside, now." His face was blank and his voice stern. Diane didn't think twice as she rushed indoors. She ran to the kitchen window to watch everything unfold. As she watched, a man exited the car, leaving it running, and approached Butler.

The man began to talk, "Old friend! How's-"

"What do you want from me, Richard?" Butler interrupted him, his face still emotionless.

"What? I can't show up to surprise a long-lost friend with a visit?" Butler remained silent. "Er...I guess it's right down to business then."

"You and Team Magma have no business here." Butler pointed to the car. "Leave."

"Somehow I knew it was going to go like this...I'm really sorry, old friend..." Richard waved his hand and the door to the house flew open. Two men emerged with Diane contained, ropes tied around her wrists and ankles.

"Butler, what's going on?" She cries.

"Diane!" He let out a growl as he turned back to Richard. "That's just like you, Richard. Just like Team Magma."

"Well, if we fought fair, we'd all be out of business wouldn't we?" Richard gave a hearty laugh. Butler winced as he heard the man he had once befriended find humor in a situation that was destroying everything he'd fought for. "Now, you'll need to come with us. We've found some old technology that has your name all over it, and we need to make it run again."

Butler growled again, knowing he was in no position to refuse. "Fine, but Diane stays. Alone."

"Done and done." He waved his hand again and the men released Diane. One of them fished a knife out of its holster and cut the ropes restraining her. Richard and Butler walked to the car. Butler paused before entering and turned to Diane.

"I'll be back, I promise. I love you." Before she could protest, he ducked into the car. A few seconds later they were speeding back the way they came with Diane yelling after them. She collapsed to the ground once the car was out of sight and wept. The only thing she could do now was pray that her husband returned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Until next time. =]


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Welcome back!

* * *

><p>Ash and Mason stopped nearby to check the map and see what sorts of trainer stores were nearby. Ash's face lit up as he saw something only a few blocks away.<p>

"Wow! They built a battle tower!" He laughed in excitement, "Whaddya say Pikachu, should we brush the dust off and show everyone how we made it to the semi-finals in a regional tournament?"

"Which one was that?" Mason asked, startling Ash. Ash had all but forgotten him in his excitement.

"Oh, the Lily of the Valley in Sinnoh!" Ash looked toward the clouds, reminiscing. "One round away from the finals…but we did our best! Right, Pikachu?" Pikachu gave a "Pi" and nodded in agreement. Ash turned back to Mason, "Why don't we head to the battle tower? I bet we'd do great in the double battle line-ups!"

"Sounds like fun, let's go!" The four of them took off down the streets, ducking and weaving between passerby's. After turning one last corner, the battle tower was right there in plain sight. The entrance was extremely crowded, but Mason and Ash managed to squeeze their way through into the building and up to the sign-in desk.

"Alright, you sign us up, I'm gonna go call Professor Oak." Ash darted off toward the phone booths.

"Eh-Wait, why?" Mason yelled after him.

"I need my pokemon!" Ash yelled without turning around.

"Welcome to the battle tower!" The woman behind the desk startled Mason, who was still watching as Ash ran to the phones. "Here you may register to battle other trainers. Which battle type would you like to enter?"

"Double battle, please."

"You will require a partner. We can match you randomly or you can provide your own, which would you prefer?"

"Oh, I've got one. He's just getting ready."

"Wonderful! Name and hometown, please?" The lady began typing away at the computer in front of her.

"Mason from Saffron City."

"And the name of your partner?"

"Ash from Pallet Town."

"Will you be renting pokemon or providing your own?" The woman nearly cut off the end of Mason's previous sentence. He turned around and noticed quite the line forming behind him and gave an embarrassed chuckle, pretty sure he had just cut in front of more than a few of them.

"Eh, we have our own. Is that all?"

"One moment!" The lady said in a high-pitched tone. She produced two neon-green rectangular passes. "These carry all of your necessary information. Proceed up the escalator in the center of the building and consult the map for further directions. Thank you!" The woman smiled and Mason noticed she seemed unusually happy for having such a busy job.

"Thanks, ma'am." He and Noone walked over to the phone booth as Ash was just finishing his phone call. "So who'd you pick?"

"I had the professor send me Snorlax and Noctowl." He held up his pokeballs and showed Mason before attaching them to his belt. "And, of course, Pikachu."

Mason handed him his pass, "We're supposed to go up the escalator and check the map, I guess."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Ash took off for the escalators with Mason trailing close behind. To his dismay, the escalators were extremely crowded with trainers leisurely riding, and he had to stand and wait until they reached the top.

Practically running in place, Ash bolted off of the escalator as soon as it reached the top and ran to the map. Mason followed close behind, trying not to let Ash out of his sight. After a few seconds of checking the map, Ash took off down a hallway to the left. There were a few trainers ahead of them in line, so they took their spot and began waiting.

"I can't wait! It'll be great to be battling again, right Pikachu?" Pikachu cried out and hopped onto the floor, holding a fist in the air. "Yeah! That's the spirit!"

Behind him, Mason just chuckled. "You really enjoy pokemon battles, don't you?"

"I'm gonna be the best some day! The greatest pokemon master that ever lived!" Pikachu hopped back up on his shoulder and cried out in agreement. "It's been a while since I've done any real battling, aside from yesterday. What better way to warm up?"

Ahead of them, two trainers handed their passes to the men standing in front of the door. The men ran them through their computers and handed them back, opening the doors for the trainers to step through. "Just a little bit longer…" Ash pulled his pokeballs off of his belt and holds them in front of him. "Get ready guys, I know it's been a while, but I know you won't let me down." He smiled and put them back on his belt.

A few minutes later Ash and Mason were next in line, waiting to be called up. "Trainers, step forward." They did as they were told and held their passes up. The men took them and scanned them like the trainers before them. After a few seconds of typing, they handed the passes back and the doors in front of them opened. "Good luck to you."

They stepped through the doors and onto a platform. The doors closed behind them and the platform they were standing on began rapidly ascending. Ash and Mason both looked up and watched the floors go by as they got closer and closer to an opening. Light shined through and suddenly they were showered in spotlights, standing in a large arena across from their competitors. Surrounding the arena was a giant stadium filled with spectators whooping and cheering.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next round will now commence." Hearing the announcer, the crowd cheered even louder. "Challengers Ash from Pallet and Mason from Saffron will take on defending champions Lars and Samantha from Olivine. This match will be a 2-on-2 battle with each trainer using only one pokemon. The match will be decided when either team's pokemon are both unfit for battle. Trainers, select your pokemon!"

Across from them, Lars sent out a Charizard and Samantha sent out a Marshtomp. "It seems as though the dynamic duo Charizard and Marshtomp are ready for battle again! These two gave our last trainers a tough time and earned themselves an early victory. Can our challengers handle this tag-team?"

"You ready, Mason?" Ash turned to him and pulled out a pokeball, activating it.

"You bet." Mason did the same and both trainers threw their pokeballs into the air, releasing Snorlax and Poof.

"The challengers have chosen Haunter and Snorlax. Trainers, begin the battle!" The crowd erupted in an almost deafening roar as they all jumped to their feet, filled with anticipation.

"Charizard, flamethrower!"

"Marshtomp, water gun!" Almost immediately Lars and Samantha called out their attacks and their pokemon unleashed a torrent of water surrounded in flames toward Snorlax.

"Poof, reflect!" Poof waved his hands and created an invisible barrier in front of Snorlax that absorbed most of the attack. Unable to sustain the ability, Snorlax was hit with the remainder of the attack.

"Snorlax, go! Body slam!" With speed uncharacteristic of the large pokemon, Snorlax ran across the battlefield and threw himself into the air toward Marshtomp.

"Marshtomp, watch out!" Samantha yelled to warn her pokemon. Marshtomp was frozen in his tracks at the sight of the immense pokemon flying toward it.

"Charizard, endure!" At the last second Charizard threw himself in front of the attack and braced for the impact. Snorlax came crashing down onto Charizard, sending him back a ways. He remained on his feet however, still ready to battle.

"Poof, use night shade!" From back on the other side of the battlefield, Poof shot a night shade toward the now-weakened charizard.

"Charizard, fly into the air!" The charizard did as Lars commanded and took off into the air.

"Snorlax, double-slap!" As Poof's night shade flew across the battlefield, Snorlax rushed forward toward Marshtomp with a double-slap attack. Marshtomp was still rendered immobile by the sheer size of Snorlax. The attack landed multiple times, knocking Marshtomp to the ground as Poof's night shade landed right next to it, hitting it with debris.

"Now Charizard, take down!" Alone across the battlefield, Snorlax was defenseless as Charizard barreled forward with a take down attack, knocking Snorlax back and causing him to roll back to his side of the field. Meanwhile Samantha was trying to get Marshtomp to stand back up.

"Confusion!" Mason yelled to Poof and Poof let out a powerful confusion attack that engulfed the whole arena. Both Charizard and Marshtomp received the attack full scale, knocking Charizard down to the ground mid-flight. Unfortunately, Snorlax was also hit by the attack as he was attempting to recover from Charizard's take down and was knocked back to the ground. Every pokemon on the battlefield was knocked out aside from Poof.

"Hey!" Ash yelled, "What's the big idea?"

"Eh, sorry!" Mason waved his hands, "Didn't know that would happen!"

"This is a **double** battle, sometimes attacks-"

"Well, that was certainly unorthodox," The announcer started, cutting Ash off mid-sentence, "but with only Haunter standing, we have our new champions! Congratulations Ash from Pallet and Mason from Saffron! Please proceed to the waiting room for further instructions! Lars and Samantha, your winning streak has unfortunately come to an end, thank you for participating and we hope to see you again! Please see the front desk to exchange your battle points!"

Mason and Ash recalled their pokemon and entered the waiting room where they were greeted by a man whose smile seemed to never end. "Amazing! Stupendular! Wonderful battling! Congratulations! My name is William Dooble, overseer of the double battles, and it's my job to congratulate you personally and inform you of just how things work here. See, having beaten Lars and Samantha, **you two** are our newest champions! You will remain the champions until you are defeated in battle or you resign your position. Each battle you win earns you more and more prestige and, of course, more and more points. These battle points, or BP for short, can be exchanged at the front desk for any number of marvelous items from our selection!"

"Woah, cool! Did you hear that, Pikachu?" Ash turned to Pikachu whose eyes were gleaming.

"Sounds awesome!" Mason's face was lit up. It was the first time in a very long time that he was excited about battling. He was suddenly reminded of Noone and her dislike of most pokemon battles and turned to her. "You sure you're up for this? We don't have to battle, you know." Noone simply smiled and rubbed against his leg. "That's the spirit! It'll be fun, I promise!"

"After every match, we will pair you against new challengers," William continued, "When you are defeated you will be asked to exit and consult the front desk to exchange your battle points. Battle points reset every day, so be sure to spend them while they're hot!"

A man entered the room and approached William. "We're ready, sir."

"Ah! Great! Absolutely wondiferous!" He turned to the boys again, "Now, before you go, we can take your pokemon from the last match and allow them to rest if you wish, or you may battle with them again."

Ash handed Snorlax's pokeball to William. "Take good care of him!"

"Why not?" Mason handed Poof's ball over. "Be careful with that one, he's pretty playful."

Mason and Ash took the field once more. The crowd roared as they released their pokemon and began battling. Seven and Noctowl make short work of their opponents and earn another victory for the duo. The two of them continue with their streak, battle after battle, defeating each of the challengers, the crowd growing louder and louder each time they prepare to battle again. Six wins later, Ash and Mason found themselves in the waiting room again.

"Yeah!" Ash jumped for joy as they entered the room. "Another one down! Way to go, Pikachu!" Pikachu cooed as Ash twirled him around. Mason and Noone were celebrating by playing a game of tag on the other side of the room. After a moment, they both took a seat to await their next match. "Undefeated for eight straight rounds! That's got to be a new record or something!"

"Even if it isn't, we're not losing any time soon!" Mason declared. William entered the room from a door in the back.

"Absolutely superdious! You boys are on quite a roll! However, we'll be taking a short break as we prepare the new stage for the next hour. You boys are welcome to stay here in the waiting room or wander about the Battle Tower, but I would suggest you stay in the building! The changes will be made shortly and you don't want to be missing and have an automatic forfeit after such a wonderful streak!"

"Don't worry, we'll be ready!" Ash clenched his fist and turned his hat around.

"Um…" Mason looked around for a clock, "Weren't we supposed to meet everyone for lunch?"

"Uh…Oh **yeah**! I forgot!" Ash yelled, pulling his PokeGear out of his pocket and checking the time. "**Wah!** We're late! We gotta go! Sorry William! Come on, Pikachu!" Pikachu hopped on Ash's shoulder just before he took off out of the room, Mason following close behind.

"But wait! What about the battle?" William cried after them.

"Really sorry but we have to go! We'll be back later!" Ash yelled back, still running. They all got onto the platform and were back on the second floor before they knew it. With only a slight idea of where to go, Ash only continued running, knowing he was going to hear it from everyone about being late. Mason and Noone could only do their best to keep up, hoping they didn't get lost in the crowd.

* * *

><p>Not too far east of Goldenrod in the beautiful town of Greenfield, Professor Hale and his daughter Molly were enjoying the day together by baking cookies. A knock was heard at the door and the butler opened it. Standing in the doorway were two hooded men, one wearing red and the other wearing blue.<p>

"May I help you?" The butler asked

"Where's Professor Hale?" One of the men demanded. Before the butler could reply, the professor stepped into the doorway, his daughter still in the kitchen.

"Hello gentlemen. How can I help you?" Hale said with a smile, knowing the men weren't there with any good intentions.

"Professor Hale, you once researched the mysteries of the unown, and we'd like to see all of your chronicled discoveries."

"Trust me, boys, those mysteries weren't meant to be understood. The secrets the unown wield is unlike-"

"We didn't ask for a lecture." One of the hooded men interrupted him. "Where is your research kept?"

"It's not. I destroyed it all."

The men snickered. "The boss said you'd say that." They both threw out a pokeball, releasing a crawdaunt and a houndoom. "Now, you have a lovely house here and, from what we understand, a lovely daughter," Professor Hale clenched his teeth at the mention of Molly, "It would be very unfortunate were anything to happen to either of them. Nobody wants that, do they?"

"Leave Molly out of this! She's been through enough already!"

"Then you will tell us where your research is kept," The pokemon prepared to fire off an attack, "Or there will be consequences."

Professor Hale grunted, but finally gave in, doing everything he could to protect his daughter. "Wait here…" The professor began walking down the hallway when Molly appeared from the kitchen.

"Who is it, daddy?" She asked, still stirring the cookie dough.

"Nobody dear, business men. I'll be back in a second, don't forget to add lots of chocolate chips!" Molly laughed and ran back to the kitchen. A few minutes later Professor Hale reappears in the doorway holding a key. He holds it up and one of the men snatches it.

"There's a warehouse. Just outside the Ruins of Alph near Violet City."

"Thanks for your cooperation, Professor. It's for the best, we promise."

As the men began to walk away, the professor called out to them: "If you know what's best for you, you'll find that warehouse and burn it to the ground. There are some things mankind was never meant to discover."

The two men returned to their car without acknowledging the professor. He simply watched as they drove off.

"Sir…should we…do something?" The butler asked.

"No. Let's just forget this ever happened." Professor Hale shut the door and returned to the kitchen to finish enjoying the day with his daughter. His only wish was that whoever those men were, they lacked the resources to unlock the secrets he had discovered.

* * *

><p>In the S.S. Cloud's dining hall, a rather suspicious look pair emerged wearing waiters' outfits, the woman pushing a cart. The cloth around the cart lifted up and Meowth appeared, scanning the area.<p>

"Any sign of da twerps, yet?" He looked to both sides of the room, which was filled with passengers already. Jessie, who was disguised as a waitress, punched him in the head and shoved him back into the cart.

"Quiet, Meowth! You're going to give us away! James, have you seen-James?" She took a look around and spotted James at one of the tables taking orders. She ran up to the table and placed the platter with h'ordeuvres that was sitting on the cart in the middle of the table. "Bon Appetit!" She squealed in a higher-than-usual tone, "Jim, could you kindly follow me? You're wanted in the kitchen!"

"But I haven't finished-" James cut off halfway through as Meowth dug his claws into his leg. He stifled a yell, "Why of course! Be right back, folks!" Jessie pulled James around a corner and out of sight from everyone else.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to be looking for the twerps, remember?"

"But that doesn't mean we have to be bad waiters…" James looked down and twiddled his thumbs.

"It's not like we're getting paid for this! Just smile and look good for everyone and keep an eye out for the twerps! When they come in, we'll show them to a table and take their order. Meanwhile, Meowth will sneak under the table and steal their pokemon right out from under them!"

"It's fool-proof!" Meowth was poking his head out from under the cart again. Just as Jessie was about to hit him, Wobbufet popped out of his pokeball and cried out, as if agreeing with Meowth. Jessie clenched her teeth and recalled Wobbufet into his pokeball while Meowth slid back into the cart.

"Just don't mess up!" Jessie pushed James back out into the dining hall and waited a few seconds before following behind with the cart.

Down below, Tyrel had fallen asleep at his desk while organizing his papers which he was now drooling on. The rocking sensation of the boat was much more soothing than he had anticipated. Further down, Gary had also fallen fast asleep in his room, his umbreon curled up at the foot of the bed sleeping as well.

Max was the only one who had yet to fall asleep. He had, in fact, not even attempted to. He simply sat on his bed, remembering all of the fun he had had on adventures past. More specifically, he was remembering his time spent with Jirachi. The two of them had only spent a week together during the sighting of the millennium comet, but they would be friends forever, just like Ash had said.

It was fun to think of Jirachi, but it hurt at the same time. He was fine with knowing he would probably never see him again, but knowing he was in trouble wasn't something Max could stand thinking about. It would have been better if Max were just crazy and hearing things, but there was no mistaking the voice that called out to him the night before.

Max decided a walk would be great for getting his mind off of things. He left his room and found an empty hallway, the stewardesses gone from their previous posts. He remembered Tyrel's room number from the first stewardess, though he didn't catch which one Gary was staying in. Tyrel had said he had some work to get done, though, and probably wouldn't want to be bothered. There was nothing wrong with taking a lonely stroll, though, as long as he avoided anything that looked troublesome or suspicious.

Max followed his hallway back to the stairway that he came down on. Almost immediately he was lost in thought again, remembering Ash, May and Brock all laughing together. He remembered the wonderful food that Brock would prepare for them, and the tense gym and frontier battles Ash fought. He remembered his sister as she was when they first started traveling, and how much she had changed by the time they split up.

Lost in his thoughts, Max simply continued walking. He walked down two flights of stairs before the stairs leading down simply stopped. He remained in his own world, fantasizing about having his own pokemon and battling trainers across the world. He dreamed about everything from his starter pokemon to the different gyms he would challenge.

"Hey kid!" A deep and scratchy voice called out to him, breaking him out of his trance. He noticed that he was nowhere near any of the rooms anymore, and that he'd made his way to the engine room. He looked towards the direction of the voice and spotted three sailors sitting around a table. "This ain't no place to be playin'!" The other two sailors laughed. "Unless you're lookin' for trouble, that is."

"Eh…" Max gave an uneasy chuckle, "No-nope, just lost. I'll be going now…"

"Hey wait!" The sailor called out and Max stopped, frozen in his tracks, "Just who do you think you are? You interrupted our break time. We don't take kindly to that." Max swallowed hard, not turning around. "What say we settle this like gentlemen, with a pokemon battle?"

Suddenly a boy appeared in front of Max wearing green clothes with a pikachu on his shoulder. "That might work if any of you were actually gentlemen!" The pikachu jumped off the boy's shoulder and let out a growl. The boy knelt down in front of Max. "Are you okay?"

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine." Max turned to look at the pikachu, then back to the boy. "You know…you remind me a lot of one of my friends."

"Er…maybe now's not the best time for that. Let's get out of here." The boy and Max started to walk away.

"Hey! I haven't gotten my battle yet!" The sailor called after them. "Or do you want me to tell the captain that we've got a couple of kids down here up to no-good?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" The boy turned around and his pikachu took his place in front of him, ready to fight. "You ready, Sparky?" The pikachu cried out in agreement.

The sailor chuckled, "This'll be fun…Go Machoke!" The sailor threw a pokeball and a machoke appeared, posing as they normally do. "Machoke, submission!" The machoke charged forward and lunged at Sparky.

"Sparky, agility!" Sparky began jumping all around the room with incredible speed, causing the machoke to miss and slam into the ground. "Now, quick attack!" Sparky appeared behind the machoke and slammed into it, knocking back to the ground as it attempted to get back up.

"Cross chop Machoke!" The machoke turned around with his arms crossed and lunged at Sparky, who quickly jumped out of the way.

"Now Sparky, volt tackle!" Sparky charged up with electricity and slammed into the machoke, knocking him back toward the sailor and knocking him out in the process. The sailor scowled at the boy as his two coworkers simply looked on in astonishment. "Thanks for the battle, but we'll be going now."

The sailor recalled his machoke and continued scowling as the boys head back up the stairs.

"So what were you doing down there, anyway?" The boy asks.

"I didn't realize where I was. I was a little distracted…" Max started thinking again about being a pokemon trainer, but snapped out of it before he got lost in one of his trances again. "Thanks so much for helping me out. What were you guys doing down there?"

"Us? Oh, Sparky loves to visit the engine room and see how everything works." Sparky gave a big "Pika!" and a smile to Max. "We go down there whenever we ride on the ferry. Come on, let's get you back to your room."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **A little uneventful, but it'd be too long otherwise. =] 'Till next time.


End file.
